Related Links

Relevant offers

Toyota is in trouble in the UK for an advert that has been deemed to glamorise reckless driving.

British news outlets, The Register and the London Evening Standard, report that two viewers had complained the ad - which has screen on YouTube and in cinemas - was irresponsible and condoned dangerous driving.

The ad - known as the Real Deal - is set in a virtual world and shows chase scenes through narrow streets before the driver bursts through a glass wall and off down a real road.

Britains Advertising Standards Authority rejected Toyota's defence of the ad, saying it believed the driving, particularly the speeds, could be copied on real roads, despite the company's claim it was in a virtual world and could not be recreated in real life.

"We also considered that the highly stylised nature of the ad glamorised the reckless manner in which the car was driven,'' the ASA said.

"Because we considered the ad portrayed speed and the way the car could be handled in a manner that might encourage motorists to drive irresponsibly, we concluded that the ad was irresponsible and condoned dangerous driving."

It ruled: "The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Toyota not to portray speed or driving behaviour in a way that might encourage motorists to drive irresponsibly in future."